ES350Bob

Tim,
Very interesting observation.
The loaner I have does this per your instructions and it is unsettling how it shook the whole car.
My car does something very similar to this when driving along, no road debris, no humps, no bumps, and no consistancy to duplicate it, it just does it occassionally. I call it the bottoming out of the vehicle due to the sound and feel in the whole car which I thought, think is the suspension, shocks.
Maybe though it is my transmission doing this instead because the sound and affect on the body of the car is very similar and there is no serious dropping sensation as though you have truly bottomed out the car when the sound happens while driving.
I have to get my car back and see, very interesting observation and thanks for posting it.

wanderer99

I picked my vehicle up from its 8000km first service yesterday. This morning I'm driving it and notice how its vibrating. The steering, seat and armrest are all vibrating much more than normal. I decide to drive to the dealership as they'd be open soon so I could get them to look at it immediately. My dealer is only 5 mins away from my house.

I'm stuck in bumper to bumper slow traffic. I start to accelerate slowly going from 1st-2nd gear at ~10km\h and the RPM slowly goes from 1500-2500+RPM and then slams into second gear. I stop the vehicle again (traffic), then move forward again and 1st-2nd is OK. 2nd-3rd RPMs go from ~1300-2500RPM, then it catches the gear. It then behaves OK until I get to the dealer - still vibrating though in seat\armrest\steering, but the tech isn't available so I drove home and come back later. I drive around for 30 mins on the way home and have no other issue, other than still vibrating.

After leaving my car for 1.5 hrs I go back to the dealer and it is no longer vibrating. In fact, its almost back to normal. Trans is also behaving itself now.

I've had the gear slipping issue from 3rd-4th when cold now for about 4000kms. I've never had the 1-2 or 2-3 gear changes act up. I've also never had this vibration issue before, which is now gone. I can't get the TSIB done at this point as I'm Canadian. Lol.

So I believe you Bob when you describe it this way. I think I just experienced something similar to what you have.

ES350Bob

Wanderer,
The vibration is annoying and for me it is exactly what my prior ES300 was doing when it needed a valve job due to oil having gelled, the other signs are the engine is noisier when it gets hot and the engine sound is not a hmmmmmmm at stop lights and signs it is a wawawawawawa type sound.
Guess what...My brand new car needs a valve job per the dealer I was just at Wednesday am.
I am beside myself as this all started at 88 miles on the car, the morning of the first full day of owning my brand new car, the engine knocking/tapping like a darn deisel engine, vibration in steering column etc. and it is the DARN valves needing work after I had been told by a shady dealer that sold it to me..."Ah, just drive the car it is normal and you know you have to have everything turned off in the car in order for you to have heard this knocking/tapping and complain about it to us, it's a piston with normal clearance and Lexus backs us up on it" ...so for hundreds of miles I have been driving a car that was in serious need of a valve job at 88 miles on the car, the dealer LIED to me big time as anyone would know simply by driving and hearing the sound etc..
I am LIVID and not sure what I am going to do about it yet since it also needs a transmission overhaul for slipping and spiking RPM and it has the wind noise issue too.
Any sincere suggestions of what I should do or expect are welcome.

LexBob2

Since your car has all of those serious problems, you should check and see if your state (Florida?) has a Lemon Law, and what you need to do to get another car or your money back.

ES350Bob

LexBob2,
Thanks, I'm contemplating what to do and looking into several things to address this.
I don't like the thought of a brand new car needing valve work adding shims to the engine you might do on a car at 30,000 miles or 60,000 miles or much higher miles even that showed up with only 88 miles on the car when I first noticed it and then there is the transmission needing overhaul for the fix too.

nstan20

Just wanted to report that on my second visit to the dealer, I had some success in getting the wind noise on the driver's side minimized . The tech adjusted the left front door striker for a tighter door seal. He removed the upper window frame seal and shimmed the back side with foam tape to provide a better seal. There is still some wind noise, but it is much more tolerable in comparison to before.

wanderer99

This kind of confirms what I've said before in this being a "non sealing" window issue. Lexus... where is the TSIB already!

wanderer99

After seeing 60 votes on this poll I think I now suffer from 'I have none of the problems listed above' ENVY.

I'm kind of shocked with the results to date actually. I was originally thinking 80% problem free due to their pre-quality assurance testing. I guess not

Lexus must be getting hammered on the support side for this car right now.

prgs300

Have had my UL ES350 built day 04/06 since May 26, and have not experience any of this problems. The car currentlly has over 6600 mi on it, and it is still extremelly quiet, to the point that I can heard the fans for the ventilated seats if the radio is off.

ES350Bob

Bravo prgs300,

This is good to know and I am happy for you.

Lexus has me spoiled rotten from the two prior I owned and I am determined I have a car like yours so I can then come on here and brag on it big time.

marcinNH

I've got 3 of the issues mentioned. Shift flare, wind noise, and interior rattle.

Car goes in a week from tomorrow. Will report back afterward...

Marc

riley2620

As I have responded on several other threads, this faulty car and the overall poor "Lexus experience" rate as the worst and most disappointing new car purchase I have ever had. My car has been in the shop for a total of 13 days in the two months I have owned it and none of my problems have been corrected. Diesel engine noise - the technician definitely heard it and told me it was a "valve train" problem. He would check it out and get back to me. The service rep calls me later that afternoon and says the cold start clatter is normal - due to the timing chain and is of no concern. (Interestingly enough - the rep put on the paperwork that they "were unable to duplicate the noise I was complaining about", neither of of my serious rattles were rectified and the solution to my terrible freeway ride was to balance the wheels and overinflate the tires to 34lbs. The car now drives slightly better at highway speeds but now rides like a truck - causing more rattles.

My ES350 loaner had 1000 miles on it and also had the cold start clatter but it was less noticible than my car which has 1700 miles. Also, the loaner had Michelins vs. my car's Toyo tires. The Michelins made the loaner a completely different car than mine. Less noise, smoother ride and much better handling on the highway - no steering wheel shake, no jittery ride and very little wandering on the pavement grooves. I am going to demand that the tires on my car be changed immediately.

Oh - I forgot, they didn't fix the tire pressure light either, it still goes on and off all the time - even though the tires are all at the same pressure.

The dealer has shown no concern and has provided absolutely zero customer service. I'm tired of wasting my time and getting no satisfaction - I'd love to just dump the car at Lexus' doorstep in Torrance and go buy a better car - Infinity, Acura, Mercedes or from what I hear, even a Hyundai would offer a better built car with no problems at all!

wanderer99

It's frustrating for all of us with problems on our brand new cars. They look like new, they smell new, they just aren't driving as new.

Lexus makes the car. Right now we've got defects. A seemingly high rate of defects. The only one who can physically repair these defects is the dealer. Some dealers are better than others. But honestly, that isn't even really our problem because to Lexus, a dealer is a dealer.

Once the dealer can't fix the issue (wind noise, engine clatter, trans 1-2 and 2-3 gear problem when hot, etc) then its a Lexus issue. They either TSIB a fix for it, or..... What if there is no TSIB? Of the 5 issues in this poll, we curently have known fixes for two of them. What about the rest of the issues? What about the issues that aren't in this poll.

What we're frustrated about I think is that we're not getting repairs. Our issues aren't being addressed to our satisfaction. I'm pretty sure my trans is faulty and I'm not even sure I'd want a new ES at this point as I don't want to go through all these issues again. Could Lexus guarantee to me that a replacement car wouldn't have the faults listed in this poll? I honestly don't think they could right now.

I don't want to go in for repairs anymore. I purchased my car for reliability and quality engineering, and so I'd rarely if ever have to go to the dealer.

As for the 'Lexus Experience' - I like it. I like the ambience at my dealer. I really like the product and the warranty. Where it's all falling down is these product faults in manufacturing, design flaws and lack of ability to get things repaired in a timely manner.

ES350Bob

Riley,
For me it is also the WORST new car experience EVER and the Lexus corporate people are horrible and the bulk of them should be fired and replaced by people who do as they say they will do, not repeatedly lie, one after another lie on top of the last lie.

Make them fix the deisel engine noise as it is a valve problem, mine was diagnosed and unlike your experience the correct diagnosis was not later taken back by the second dealer. The first dealer was devious about what was wrong with the car, in fact, claimed everything was perfect. I had also had to pay for 2 second opinions as a result of the first devious dealer's outright lies to me about the car's engine.

It requires a valve job to fix it, adding shims to your valves and it takes a long time to do it as Japan requires constant contact and measurements back and forth when doing this. That's why you were mislead later about it, the length of time required to do it.

The improper valves will further cause further damage over time and give you poor gas mileage as well.

You should be noticing vibration in the steering column, arm rests and floorboards that will intensify when the engine is really good and hot while driving, most noticeable at stop lights and signs and idle in park when hot, also present cold when the worst of the deisel sound is present. Those are hallmarks of bad valves as well as an uneven sound to engine at idle.

riley2620

It's funny that you note the vibration. My car does have some vibration - not terrible but it certainly does not idle as smoothly as the V6 on my fleet Chevy Impala. I have noticed that at idle there is some vibration - reminds me more of a four cylinder engine than a V6 - but I have noticed that there is more engine noise coming through to the passenger compartment than when it was brand new. Also the idle noises are sort of strange - sound like an old, tired engine. I will keep an eye (or ear) on this and report back.

Any suggestions on how I should handle this when I take the car in again? I think I will try a different dealer this time - I'll ask Lexus customer service what they recommend. Take care!